Interpreting and Communication Services for People who are d/Deaf and Deafblind (February 2021)

Background Kent County Council (the Council) is the largest county council in England covering an area of 3,500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over £900m on goods and services and a population of 1.3m. The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with 12 district councils, Kent & Medway Clinical COmmissioning Group and 289 parish/town councils. The Opportunity The Council has set up a Framework for Interpreting and Communication Services for People who are d/Deaf and Deafblind to allow the Council to buy communication services from a list of approved providers who meet a certain set of minimum standards. The framework commenced on 17th June 2019 and will run until 16th June 2023. The framework opens every two months for new tender applications. services which will be commissioned under the Framework will fall into one of the following disciplines. Applicants may apply to join the Framework within one of more of these disciplines (please download the Invitation to Tender for a list of the sub-lotting structure): Lot 1 – Face-to-face Interpreting Services (Verbal) Lot 2 – Face-to-face Interpreting Services (Non-Verbal) Lot 3 – Transcription Lot 4 – Lip Speakers Lot 5 – Speech to Text Reporters Lot 6 – Deaf Relay Lot 7 – Translation Lot 8 – Video Interpreting Services Lot 9 – Other Sign Language Interpreting from an International Range of Languages Lot 10 – Trainee Interpreters Expression of Interest and Tender Process Expressions of Interest will only be accepted via the Kent Business Portal. In order to submit your interest in this opportunity, please select the 'Login and Express an Interest' button located at the bottom of this page. Note: If you have not registered on the portal before, in order to successfully submit your interest you will first need to register for an account. After registration is complete and you have received your login details, you should return to the advert for the opportunity and express your interest. Once you have expressed an interest, you will be emailed an invitation to submit a tender. Tenders must be received by 12 noon on the 8th March 2021. The anticipated tendering schedule is as follows: Invitation to Tender opens – 05/02/2021 Last date for clarification questions – 26/02/2021 Invitation to tender closes – 08/3/2021, 12 noon Evaluation – week commencing 08/3/2021 Anticipated contract start date – 01/05/2021 Questions and Communication Please direct all questions and communications through the Kent Business Portal via the Discussion facility. Tendering Schedule This Framework will be opened for applications from new entrants every two months.